Legging



Dec. 5, 1933. K. E JENSEN 1,937,573

LEGGING Filed OCT.. 27, 1930 i TTOUQZC Jl'afbl'. dense@ @f mzuq @wwwa lateral projection thereon carried by the other Patented Dec.`5, 1933` UNITED STATES LEGGING Karl E. JensenQDanville, Ill., assigner, by mesne Y. assignments, to Ervin'F. Kemp, Washington,

Application octoberizv, 1930. serial1\m."'491,440l

1 claim. (o1. srs- 2) The invention relates generally to leggings and more particularly to an industrial legging Vespeciallyladapted for use by workmen in steel mills, foundries, etc., as a protection against flying particles of molten metal or other hazards.

An object of the invention is to provide a new and improved llegging adapted to protect the leg and foot of the wearer andwhich may be very rapidly removed from a wearers legso that in an emergency,` as when molten metal is splashed against' the legging, the wearer may remove the legging before the V,metal has time to burn through the legging and injure l'n'm.v

`More specifically stated, it isan object of the .invention to provide a leggingin which a leg protecting covering is 'provided with quickly detachable means for holding the covering in place including a series of transversely extending `apertures in one side of the covering and a hookmember in the form of a stud vhaving a short side of the covering, said hook member `being relatively small to permit entrance thereof through an aperture in a straight line direction to eiect an engagement with the aperture which is maintained by the tension` of the covering vabout the wearers leg and may be released by 'a relatively slight turning or pivotal movement ofthe hook member with respect to the aperture.

AnotherA object of the invention is to provide a legging in which a legV protecting covering, formed `from a single substantially regularly shaped'piece of material adapted to extend about .a Wearers leg, has quickly'Y detachable `means thereonadjacent the upper edge for securing and maintaining said covering in position and further embodies a pair of flexible members extending between spaced parts of the lower edge of the covering to properly shape portions of said'covering to receive the Wearers heel andgto cover or extend about the wearers instep, said last mentioned portion having a flare thereon` arranged to overlieand'protect the front part of the wearers foot. y

Other objects and advantages will become-apparent in the following description and from the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of alegging embodying the features of the present invention.

of the fastening means for the upper portion of the legging showing two relative positions of the parts. f Fig. 4 is an inside view of the legging in substantially extended condition.

, the appended claim. v

overlapping relation.

AWhile vthe invention'is'susceptible of .various modifications and alternative constructions, 'I have shown in the drawing and will'her'ein describe in detail the 'preferredembodiment, but it is to be-understood`that I do not thereby inand alternative constructions falling within the spirit andscope ofthe invention as expressed inV With particular reference to v present invention is presentedin connection with a flexible leg protecting covernggenerally designated lOvwhich is adapted to encircle a wearers Vleg'and position the opposite sides thereof in Y Usually," the protecting covering is formed of yleather or a similar Wear resisting or Aprotective material, andthe legging is so constructed that the edges or' sides thereof v l 75 Since the present industrial legging visv paf" meet on the outer side ofthe' leg. l

ticularly' adapted for` use by Workmen `in vindustries in whichthe Vworkmen continuallyuhandle hotY articles ormateriaIS, it has been -found that the vordinary type of close fitting legging be- -the drawing; the

Atend to limitv the invention tothe specific form i Y disclosed, Ybut intend to cover yall modifications comes very uncomfortable tothe wearer *after l 'it has been worn for a short space of-time. The

present invention overcomes vthis difliculty by providing means lfor, 4securing and maintaining the leg protecting covering on a wearers leg in suchV manner that free circulation-fof air throughout substantially the entire length of the legging is permitted. To this endjmeans are provided for securing the "upper portion of the 'legging in a substantially close fitting or rsnug relationship to the wearers leg, while other means are employed for maintaining :the lower portion of the legging inspaced relation to the wearers ankle and foot, and, at `the same time, for disposing the legging in a protecting position relative to the parts from which lit isspaced. e

Asfmay'be seen rin Figs.v 1V and 4, the preferred means for-holding the lower'portion of theleg-l ging in place comprises the following construction: Anlelongated flexible member 11 is connected at one end to the -iiexible .covering -adjacent the lower Vedge and near oneside thereof. The other end of the member is secured to `an.

v `A intermediateportion of the flexible covering-near Figs, 2 and 3 are enlarged cross sectional views the'lower edge thereof. `The member is ,sub-

stantiallyshorter than the-'length of the'por-v w tion of covering connected thereby so that said portion of cover-ing is held in the form of a curl or fold generally indicated at V12.A By properly predetermimng the 'relative 'sizes and' theuis- 110 fio position of the parts, this arrangement produces Va pocket into which the wearer may insert the heel of a shoe with the member 1l, of course, extending beneath the instep of the foot, in front of the heel (see Fig. 1);

Similarly, a second flexilole member 13 extends between( the opposite Hside of Athe legging from that to lwhich the rst flexible member l11 is secured, and an intermediate portion ofthe covering. The second member is likewise shorter than the length of the portion of covering con-v .nected thereby Vto form a fold indicated at 14 on the part of the legging which Vmay be designated the front. 13 is secured to the inner side ofthe covering and is preferably positioned upwardly of the covering a short distance from the lower edge .thereof so that when the legging is in position on a wearers leg, the second 'member extends across and-engages the ywearers instep, as is clearly shown in Fig. 1.

In consequence of this construction, itV will be evident thatl the portion `14 ofthe covering will be maintained in an outwardly extending posi-v tion ,with respect, to the wearers leg, and at f the same time, willr overlie and prctectingly enclose thefront portion of the lwearers leg and Y instep.VV A protecting ilare l15, lformed preferytically opening pocket 19 formed in-any suitable y ably of two appropriately shaped'pieces of heavy leather .orthe like secured as'by vstitching* to each other andv to the lower front edge of the fold 14, extends forwardly of the legging to overlie and lprotect the front or toe portion of the wearers foot. Therflare, therefore, aiords'additional .protection without hamperi-ng. the free circulation of air permitted by theloose fit of rthe lower portion of the covering...

The construction of the lower'p'ortion of the legging includes a means yfor securing the meeting sides .of the legging togetherA in such manner that said sides may be quickly separated. A

pocket 16 is provided along one side edge of the legging lin any suitable manner as by sewing a vseparate strip of material along the sideiorby .turning and stitching the side uponitself. This pocketreceives ,anY elongated strip of stiffening materiaL such as the metal bar 17. The lower end of the pocket 1 6 terminates a short Vdistance from the lower edge of the covering' and. the stiifening bar extends outwardly beyond the pocket a short distance, as shown Aat 18 (Fig. 4)

The opposite side of the legging carries a vermanner,l as:` by stitching. a strip of leather to the side of the covering, which pocket is posiv tioned to receivethe lower end 18 of the bar 17. Insertion of the Y end of `the bar into the pocket maintains the lower portion of the cover- Vne in position about the wearers foot, which maintaining engagement may be instantly-released by vmerely, withdrawing the end of the bar from thepocket. As has been mentioned, the upper portion of the legging Vfits snugly about the wearers leg and in the present embodiment means are provided for holding the legging in this position, which means is capable of ready adjustment to any size :and

p may also-beV instantly released. To this end, one

side `of the covering; which preferably `is 'thel side which passes vabout the rear portion of the wearers leg, isrpro'vided with a plurality or vseries of spaced apertures 20 which extend transversely ofthe covering sovas to be in-a substantially horizcntal plane when the covering is on the wearers leg. These apertures are preferably reinforced Y However, the vsecond 'memberand dened in any suitable manner as by eyelets.

The other or overlapping side of the'legging carries a means for engaging any of the apertures tosecure the two sides together, which means is capable of being easily engaged with-any ofY the apertures and may be quickly disengaged by a slight relative turning'or pivotal movement.

With particular reference to Figs.v 2A and 3, a

Vmeans of this character is illustrated in the nal.ture oi" a hoolr member rigidly secured to the bar 17. The hook member in its preferred formV comprises a short stud or pin 21 provided with a laterally extending projection 22 which is quite short and faces inthe direction of the bodyl of the legging. Thus, the structure presents a hook of the side to which it is secured. The relative sizes of the hook` member andapertures are such that the hook member Ymay pass coaxially through any aperture; or in other wordsinay pass through an aperture` in .astraight line direction. t Y t A linger piece 23 is secured toand extends up- Viv'ardly from the side of the legging in which the apertures are located and a second finger piece 24 extends outwardly beyond the edge of the side Voi the legging on which the hook memberV is mounted. vThese finger pieces are for the convenience of the wearerindonning the legging.

rlhus, the wearer wishing'to place the legging in position aboutv his, leg' and' foot, t places his -heel The V.flexible covering isVA then portion 14 ofv the legging and the flare 15 in loosely loverlying' protective relation to the front' of the wearers foot.

The wearer, by'grasping the linger pieces v23 f and 24, drawsthe overlapping sides kof the covering in opposite directions gree. of `tension ofthe covering about the upper portion lof the 4leg is obtained. A straight line movement of' the causes said memberto engage anunderlying aphook member toward the leg until the desired dey...

erture20 whereupon release of the finger piece 24 allows the tensioncf the covering about the vleg to draw `the hook memberv into holding engagement with the engaged aperture (see Fig. 2) 1n order to facilitate entry of the hook member and the-projection 22 taper sharply from the projection to provide ar rounded outer surface 25.

VThis surface engages the margin ofthe aperture and insures the engagement of the parts during the straight line movement.

When the wearer wishes to remove the leggingr` from his leg, he 'grasps the nger piece 24,with one handy and pulls slightly `outwardly from and into the aperture, the outer end of vthe stud 21,7-

forwardly of his leg. The-'first turning or pivvotal Amovement ci the hook member suffices tov i release the short projection 22 from its engagement withtlie aperture (see Fig. 3), after which a slight continuation of the pull .freesl the stiffening member 17 from the pocket 19 to permit vthe vwearer to step clear of the legging. It will be evident that this construction permits the legging to be very quickly removed from theA wearers leg in the case of emergency.

Fromthe foregoing it vvillbe apparentthat a novel legging Vhas been provided which is com'- fortable, eliminates any restriction to the move- 90 member which opens away from the vertical edge l ment of the wearers foot and ankle, which affords complete protection to the leg and foot of the wearer, and may be quickly unfastened andany one of said apertures, said stud having a lat'-v eral projection thereon facing transversely to, v ward the front of the legging, the relative sizes f of said stud and projection and apertures being' such that the stud mayenter the apertures coaxially to effect an engagement of theA projection with an aperture, which engagement is maintained by the tension'of, the .covering about the Wearers leg and is'instantly releasable by a relatively short pivotal movement of the stud caused' by an outward and forward pull on the covering side to which the stud is attached. KARL E. JENSEN.k 

